Posted by Christ_empowered on June 15, 2010, at 21:37:06
I'm aware that when Thorazine was first introduced, the (mostly European) psychiatrists who used it called it a "chemical lobotomy." They apparently didn't mean this in a negative way, since a lot of them performed lobotomies. Thorazine (especially in lower doses, according to what I read in "Mad in America") calmed people down, made them somewhat apathetic, but functional; basically, what you'd expect from surgical destruction/removal of the frontal lobes (if it went well, which often it didn't...)
Fast forward several decades: now we know that long-term use of neuroleptics can cause frontal lobe damage (and damage to other parts of the brain, too), especially when high doses are used. Psychiatrists (again, especially the european ones) seemed to suspect this early one, but...brain damage was a big part of how psychiatry "helped" people back then, so they didn't think much of it.
NOW, here's my question, which I'm hoping some of you scientifically-minded and/or research savvy people can answer; can neuroleptics (and other psych meds, too) actually cause a *true* chemical lobotomy? I mean, can they damage the frontal lobes so much (or interfere with its development, as would happen if you took the drugs early in life) that the patient is left not only with the behavioral changes associated with a frontal lobotomy, but also with the brain damage, too? In other words: can psych drugs give you a permanent lobotomy, that would show up on a CAT scan or at autopsy, without the holes in your head or the icepick through the trans-orbital bone?
This sounds macabre, and trust me, I'm *not* trying to give myself (or anyone else) a non-surgical lobotomy; I have reasons for asking this question that I may share later. For now, I just need to know: can psych meds rob you of your frontal lobes?
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:951188
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100615/msgs/951188.html